Thursday, July 1, 2010

Life, the blogoverse, and meta-questions

Well, it's been a while! Life's been chugging along, my guild's having the usual summer slump, and raiding is once again getting a tad dull in anticipation of the next expansion. I've taken to reading a few elementalshamanblogs, and it took reading through a few posts before I realized that two of the bloggers were women. I wonder if it's something in particular about women who play ele shammies that makes us like to write blogs. Or it's just a coincidence. We have a handful of women still in my guild, probably split equally between DPS/tank and healing.

I think part of the reason I haven't updated the blog in so many months is that I've been using Twitter to get my short thoughts out instead of letting them build up over the month and then writing a large post. I've tried tying my Facebook page to Twitter, but I want Twitter to update the FB status, not for FB to update Twitter.

There was a bit of flurry on the Ulduar comments lately on YouTube about folks being excited that I actually do read nearly every comment on the video. And then came more questions. I hope no one has taken it terribly personally that I don't respond to each and every comment personally. There are questions that, I confess, I will always ignore. For example, "What's the original song?" Guys, it's in the video credits. This actually brings up something else that's been on my mind, a bit of a delicate topic. I like hearing from fans who say they like the vids. I'm happy to interact a bit and thank them for watching. I'm flattered when people want to track me down just to give me a compliment; who wouldn't be? It's not uncommon for folks to try to extend the conversation. Perfectly understandable, I myself would also love to keep chatting with someone whose work I respected once I'd found them and they responded. However, please understand that while I don't mind chatting about interesting stuff, and I realize that many folks will want to ask similar questions like when my next vid is coming out, it sets off a red flag when I'm asked questions that have really obvious or easy to find answers. What realm am I on, what class do I play, etc. That, and quoting my own lyrics back to me really trigger the fan-radar and say clearer than anything, "I can't think of anything else to say so I'm going to start grasping at straws just so I can keep talking with you." Again, flattering, but that's when it crosses the line from appreciative fan to annoying fanboy/fangirl. All I ask is that before you start pumping me with questions, see if the answers are really obvious first, and please realize that quoting my lyrics back to me does not in fact give the impression you were hoping for. Instead of saying, "hop on my mechano hog lol", tell me something I *don't* know, like, "I love singing this at the top of my lungs and annoying my little brother."

The most common question I get that isn't addressed anywhere ridiculously publicly is when I'm going to make another vid. (This blog doesn't have a huge ginormous readership, so I will still be happy to answer this one if you track me down, especially as the answer may change in a month.) Right now, I don't know. Nyhm is on a WoW hiatus, likely until Cata comes out. Ulduar was done in a fit of inspiration, and I haven't been hit with anything I've liked as much. I've started writing a couple other spoofs, but nothing has been inspired enough to get finished. I think my next project is going to be just an excuse for me to sing something. I have a few songs that I just love to sing, so I've thought about recording them and seeing who I can talk into making something pretty video-wise to look at while the music goes.

I've tweeted about it, but it's official, I am not going to Blizzcon this year. Sad panda. Unfortunately I knew as soon as the weekend was announced that I wasn't going to be able to go, so I didn't even try to scrounge up tickets. On the bright side, I've got a pretty awesome personal project in the works (which is directly related to why I can't go) that I'll most likely post about shortly after Blizzcon. Fair warning, it's an RL project, it's not Warcraft, it's not a new movie, and it's got nothing to do with my singing. But since it's rather important to me on a personal level, I'll at least want to show off the results once it's done. Especially since finishing it is so important that it's going to keep me from Blizzcon. I'll try to find time to at least get some more singing up sometime between now and then, though!

27 comments:

Hope you and your husband have a great 4th of July, really enjoy your vids. I can't believe you have "The Internet Is For Porn" on your favorites, LOL. I posted it on my guild's website and it got me g-kicked. At 43, I should have known better. 80 tauren DK lookin for guild - (joke) CYA in WoW I hope. For the Horde !

Sorry - not spam- was scrolling up to leave and saw In Memory on vids list jarred my own aging memory. Just wanted to say how touched I was by that to you & Nyhm both. I had a friend in EverQuest for 5 years, then one day he logged in and said a tumor had come back behind his eye and he was scared sh__less. A week later his brother logged in and told us he passed. I wish I knew you back then to craft him a tribute like that. It is a masterpiece. Thanks.

@hellojimpery I not only have it favorited, but I use an "Internet Is For Porn" mousepad, too! Love that thing. I saw Avenue Q in Vegas pretty much because I'd seen that WoW vid and loved the song so much. In Memory was a special case tribute since I'd been good friends with the rest of her guild (it's the guild I've been in now for two years) and we'd never done something like that before. I don't know that we could do anything equally simple yet potent if we ever tried again. You have my sympathies for the loss of your friend.

When I first heard the Ulduar song it got stuck in my head. You have a beautiful voice. I find myself even after weeks of first hearing still singing it. Hope all goes well on your new real life project.

Hey im from Poland and i like your videos my favitoure is Ulduar and Ni Hao :) Your voice is very good. I know about your sings only 1 week and i be your Fan. Sorry For my bad english because i got only 12 years :/ greetings from Poznań , Poland Adrian

Hey. I'm glad your still going and doing well. I can't wait to see what cataclysm will bring from you ^^ I get Holy (Priest) stuck in my head all the time and it's one of my favorite songs (you can take that as positive feedback) ye, i guess that brings me to why i actually decided to post a comment in the first place just to let you know that you have fan in Torquay UK so keep it up and I'll keep my eye open for your next songs =D

dont ya just love the internet? Playin with my music on playlist.com, runnin searches on various places trying to find titles or artist names,eventually stumbled on Nymhs stuff, and ultimately came across you.

gotta say, your singing voice is absolutely... um.. what's a good word that combines awesome, fantastic, incredible...? Anyway, I love it. You could be makin serious bank with that ;) Would like to hear more (me and at least 5000 others it seems). Got a singsnap account maybe? lol, anyway, cheers & best of luck to ya!

I'm sure this has been said before, I didn't bother to read all the comments..it's 6AM.. But i love your voice and your work, and wish you the best of luck in finishing your project, regardless of what it is, i'm sure it will show the same level ok skill all your great work has :D

Oh thought I'd throw in something else. If you love to sing and there are some song you just really want to sing...SING THEM! I can promise you there are lots of people just dying to hear you sing something new, your voice is just incredible. I would pay yo hear you sing that dang phone book to me...Please just sing and throw something out there, people will love it :D

Summergale, i must ask you a question. ´´Dandalyn``, the one you sings about in ´´In Memory`` - who was she? I just wonder, nothing special. I really hope im not making you sad, reminding you about her. You have my sympathics for the loss of Dandalyn.

I've spent hours playing some of the vids with your vocals...my favs...Ni Hao and Ulduar. Special project? The fairy godmother in me thinks this sounds like the pitter patter of little feet! My first grandchild is due early March 11...so baby's are on my mind. At least giggle a little at this.

Hi, I'm Summergale: World of Warcraft shaman (elemental kthx), PVE end game raider on US-Nesingwary, and machinima singer. I'm best known for having worked with Nyhm and Mad Cow Studios as his female vocalist, and lately in addition to Mad Cow I'm working on more of my own projects these days.